March 2018 Google Updates: Did Your Site Tank Recently?

Have you noticed a distinct drop in your rankings and traffic during March-April 2018? You’re not the only one. Many people worry that they have been issued a Google penalty when they see sharp downward movements, but this is not always the case.

Google makes major, broad updates to their algorithm several times a year. These are (officially or unofficially) named updates, such as Penguin, Panda, or Fred (my personal favorite).

However, the most recent updates are unnamed and, typically, unannounced. These are focused updates that affect the core algorithm, which typically happen more often throughout the year.

These focused updates tell us a few things in the internet marketing world:

March 2018 Google Update:What Actually Happened?

While some websites did get issued official penalties, the majority of sites that saw a downturn in rankings and traffic were simply devalued.

Conversely, websites that have been practicing White Hat SEO saw an uptick in rankings, traffic, and overall website visibility.

The updates throughout March-April focused on the main thing that Google always focuses on: E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust). By demoting websites that have little value to users, the websites with good E-A-T were improved greatly.

With every update, Google is getting better at closing those Black Hat loopholes that don’t improve user experience. These “tricks” that get used by SEO companies might have brought some immediate boosts, but will ultimately bring negative results.

As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded….

4 Possible Reasons Your Site Was Affected Negatively

1. You have good SEO, but a competitor has better SEO

If a site is seeing losses, it’s possible that it is not a problem with the website’s SEO value. A large part of this update simply favored higher value websites. Everything is relative in Google SERPs. Therefore, if a competitor went up, your site may have went down.

This is a pretty easy fix, if your SEO value is already good. If you are currently a SEO client with Logic Web Media, chances are we are already on it. However, this will be dependent on your budget and the overall state of your website. Increasing your service plan will help you gain back your rankings quicker. Additionally, updating your site’s coding and speed will help you get back on top.

Here is an example of a website that we did not build. It is using a WordPress template that is outdated and needs too many plugins in order to work. The plugins required on the website and the overall outdated coding makes it nearly impossible to make the changes needed to benefit SEO. As a result, this website is seeing a steady downturn in page visibility.

2. New Rich Snippets or answer box has shown up for your query

Even if you held the #1 spot for your query, you may have been bumped by the new “Ranking at 0” feature. Although this was rolled out over two years ago, it is taking time to catch on and show up on the regular.

So, you may have dropped on your top ranking keywords, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are in a bad place. These new features are simply helping users find quick answers.

In reality however, you may not want to rank at 0, depending on the query. This is because you want traffic to your website. If people are getting the answer to a query right on the results page, then they are less likely to click to your website. Through a diverse and well constructed SEO and content strategy, you can navigate this feature in a way that benefits you the most.

3. Your website has thin or duplicate content

This is a simple yet time consuming issue. Even after the work on the content is complete, it could take months (or even a year) for search engines to put a higher value on your website.

Thin and duplicate content has always been a factor impacting SEO. This recent update has just placed more emphasis on it, resulting in your website pages being devalued.

Again, if you are a SEO client with us, then we are already dealing with it. However, if you have a website with a ton of pages or have a website not developed by us, this may be more of a difficult fix.

4. Your website lacks depth and value

The term “Content is King” gets thrown around a lot in the SEO world. Simply having content does not mean that it is useful to your website visitor. Google is smart. Like, really smart. They have advanced algorithms that pick up on linguistic nuances and are able to understand your content and website flow the way a human would.

In simpler terms: they know if your content is BS.

A pitfall we see clients trip into is the idea that they can create and add content (usually in the form of blog posts) as they please and this will satisfy Google’s algorithm,. However, content and site structure needs to be a well thought out strategy.

Here is an example of a website that we built for a client, and then proceeded to provide SEO services for. Since we knew the code was clean and had full access to customize the strategy, the website was destined for positive results. The website had zero SEO value, so we optimized the flow and link structure, and continuously added useful and rich content. The strategy paid off, as you see the updates took effect and their visibility has been steadily increasing. This website is a clear demonstration of why you need employ White Hat SEO from the start.

Summary

If you have been tracking your website and are seeing steady downward movements, chances are you were hit by this update. While some will jump right to blaming a penalty or even your web company, the reality is that Google has simply devalued your website.

Even if you are not using Black Hat SEO, a lazy SEO plan will still affect you negatively.

What You Need to Recover:

SEO Audit

Penalty check (just in case)

Content review; Adjustments to thin/duplicate content

Improved site structure

Related Articles

Read What They're Saying

We are absolutely thrilled with the service Logic Web Media provided for us. Our business struggled for years to develop a strong web presence and within just a couple of weeks, their team created the perfect website for us.
Throughout the entire process, they were very patient and thorough with us. Our experience with them was a pleasure and I'd absolutely recommend them to anyone looking for web design help.

We are so happy to have chosen Logic Web Media to redo our website. They were very professional and clear about everything right from the start and very reasonably priced. Best of all, they listened to what I wanted instead of trying to sell me on a bunch of fancy features that would cost a lot. Definitely use this company!

The pros at Logic took our 8 extremely busy websites and combined them into one beautiful and amazingly easy to navigate site. It almost seemed like an impossible feat, but they made it work and we have been receiving nothing but rave reviews! They worked tirelessly made changes to our site until we were completely satisfied, and went above and beyond to meet our needs. We are very happy with our new website.

Logic Web Media re-designed my website and improved it beyond my expectations. Extremely professional and dedicated, highly recommended. As an artist, the visuals are as important as the navigation & the traffic. None can do better. Professional, friendly and very quick with my updates, at reasonable rates.